The Price of Candy

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One Deadly Sister

Five Star rating

*****

“...an excellent plot which keeps readers glued to the pages until the very end. A great read!”

--Goodread.com

“...a clever plot enfolds, firmly supported by interesting characters. If you like mysteries, you'll enjoy this one. No loose ends.”

--Scripps Treasure Coast Newspapers

“...a murder mystery at its best...a great and realistic story line that will keep you guessing till the end.”

--Michele Tater, ReviewTheBook.com

'If you enjoy mysteries that keep your mind guessing and racing until the very end, you don't want to miss this story.'

--Feathered Quill Book Reviews

'A very creative and enjoyable first novel...grabs hold of you early on and you can't get away from it.'

--Betty Gelean, ReviewTheBook.com

The Price of Candy

by

Rod Hoisington

Copyright 2010 Rod Hoisington

Also by Rod Hoisington

One Deadly Sister

A passionate wise man will dance down the path of a fool.

Chapter One

Beyond the solid screen of sea grapes that lined Highway A1A and down a gentle sea oat covered slope laid an isolated patch of sandy beach, warmed that late afternoon by one of the celebrated southerly breezes that enhance Florida in November. Only the murmur of the ocean disturbed the quietness. On that secluded beach, cast in the slanted shadows of the sunset, were two men and a woman. The two men were alive.

One was a sturdy younger man, scarcely thirty. He wore a Miami Dolphins’ sweatshirt and slouched with his thumbs hooked in the pockets of his faded jeans. The other man was dressed precisely for business except fine sand had scattered across his well-shined Testoni shoes. He walked away from the body, put both hands to his head, and walked back. He took off his tailored suit coat and covered the face and upper body of the woman on her back in the sand. Her orange bikini bottom and bare legs remained exposed below his coat.

The younger man knelt beside the body and started to lift the coat. “She really dead?”

“Don’t move that. Don’t look under there!”

“I’m not looking at her. Looking at her body. She’s not in there anymore. Gone, like up in smoke or whatever happens.” He raised the coat and made an unhurried consideration of the body.

“You’re looking at her.”

“Ask her if she cares. Don’t often get a free peek like this, you know. I’ll just close her eyes so she’s not staring back at me.” The younger man passed his hand over her face and the woman’s hushed hazel eyes closed easily.

“How’d you know that?”

“That’s what they do in the movies. Read someplace where some people believe if the eyes are left open, the dead will look around and spot someone to take with them.”

“Keep your hands off her.” The other man reached down and readjusted the coat to cover as much of the face and upper body as possible.

“Who knows what the dead are capable of? This one’s doing a good job messing with your head.”

“Don’t touch her again, okay?”

“Why, she your wife?”

The man shook his head. “I...think I’m going to be sick.” He pulled the knot of his silk necktie loose, tilted his head back, and took in a deep breath.

“Girlfriend, huh? Lucky man...at least up until now. She’s definitely from another world. You rich guys get all the goodies.”

“I don’t think about things that way.”

“You don’t think about money at all. Like you don’t think about that fancy car parked up there. Just ask for the best or pick what you want. Like you picked which girl you wanted. Of course, now you can’t bear to look at her. Guess you’ll just have to pick another.”

“I don’t need to justify anything to you.”

“Yeah, the rich never have to justify.” He made a wide grin. “Your money won’t help when you try to explain to your wife how you happen to know Miss Universe here and why her top is off. You’re shaking already.”

The other man stiffened. “Her top came off when I put my arms around her from the back, you know, that Heimlich maneuver, squeezing her to stop her choking.” He combed his fingers through his thin brown hair.

“If you say so. When I first looked down you were behind her with your arms around her. I saw her top fall off and her boobs bouncing around. You bet I remember that part.”

“I couldn’t get the damn thing back on.”

“Must’ve been fun trying to stuff ten pounds in a five pound bag.”

“Do you have to talk about her like that? It’s not decent. She deserves our respect. She was a nice girl.”

“You knelt down beside her with your head down for a long time. What was that?”

“Just thinking.”

“Just crying over her is more like it. Okay, I guess you tried to save her. Don’t know how you screwed up the Heimlich. Any dork can do it.”

“I’ve never thought about learning such things. Things where I must actually touch people. There’s always someone around to do it. Of course I regret it. Someone trained might have saved her.”

“You drove here together. I saw you.”

“You saw us? Oh...I didn’t realize that. She’s sort of a friend.” He wiped his palms on the front of his trousers.

“I hope my friends do a better job if I choke.”

“She needed a ride, that’s all...she needed a ride.”

“A ride to the beach? That what you’re saying?”

The man folded his arms across his chest and didn’t answer.

“I stood up there at the top of that knoll and watched you. Funny, when she got out of your car and started